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I noticed some interesting pictures in the mook book, most of this book is written in Japanese.

First off, I noticed a 45 single listed in a section titled "Prelude 1946-1968" now this pic is super small but with a magnifying glass I can clearly see a Russell label showing it to be a 45 then Karen Carpenter and the song "We'll Be Together" Does this appear to be real or a mock up?

Then I noticed an alternate shot of Offering I had not seen. I know there are alternates of Richard in the white shirt with hands out but I had not seen this one, groovey pants of Richard's, huh? It looks like the same scenery, I wonder if this was a possible choice for the cover?

Lastly, there is this incredible photo of Karen from her solo sessions. I have seen it many times before but not of this clarity and full size (more with showing her hair) I first scaned it as a photo which tends to use slightly more color and saturation. I then decided to scan it as a mag photo and it turned out less saturated and brighter. The outfit she is wearing tells us this was from her solo sessions photo shoot. I was zooming in on the photo and although yes she is thin, she still has this incredible beauty.

The final page of the Mook, a handwritten letter in English ( by Richard) to the fans, seems to indicate that
he had an active role in relaying obscure/arcane information to Yuko Ogura for this project. Richard places his role
for the Mook as an archivist for 'Carpentersphiles'. Thus, I would surmise that the information contained herein is
probably accurate simply because he wanted historical accuracy. This begs the question: Why no Translation of the
entire Mook into English?

I was intrigued by the reference in the opening post in Japanese to two songs, "We'll Be Together" and "Don't Tell Me", on the Russell label, so I asked a friend of mine who speaks Japanese to translate the text. This is what she sent to me:

Here is the translation.

Richard started composing around that time. While writing Christmas songs for the Choir, he also wrote popular songs, and had Karen singing those songs though her singing voice was not yet fully developed. When I was shown a record room in Richard's home, I noticed one unfamiliar recording disc placed near the single of Magic Lamp. The label said "We'll Be Together" and "Don't Tell Me". He said "That is what Karen recorded when she was 14. At that time, if you pay some — I do not remember how much — we could have a recording disc made."

So, this is clearly a recording Karen made BEFORE her Magic Lamp single of tunes Richard had composed. Very intriguing.

Wow, thanks Tony. I never dreamed someone would come back to help interpret those notes. I am going to print your translation and place them inside my Mook book. Please tell your friend how much I appreciate the interpretation.

I never knew that Karen recorded a track at 14, has Richard ever mentioned this in any of the interviews or books written other than the Mook? So this sorta means that Richard knew at that age Karen could have the talent to sing? New stuff to me....Man...I'd love to hear those recordings.

I never knew Karen recorded a track at 14, has Richard ever mentioned this in any of the interviews or books written other than the Mook? So this sorta means that Richard knew at that age Karen could have the talent to sing? New stuff to me....Man...I'd love to hear those recordings.

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To my knowledge, he has never mentioned this in any interview to date. It's definitely news to me. Amazing stuff!

Wow, thanks Tony. I never dreamed someone would come back to help interpret those notes. I am going to print your translation and place them inside my Mook book. Please tell your friend how much I appreciate the interpretation.

I never knew that Karen recorded a track at 14, has Richard ever mentioned this in any of the interviews or books written other than the Mook? So this sorta means that Richard knew at that age Karen could have the talent to sing? New stuff to me....Man...I'd love to hear those recordings.

Click to expand...

You're welcome Chris. I'll tell my friend Junko you said "thanks". Like you, I'm really pleased to learn something completely new and unexpected. I'd love to hear those two songs, and I wonder how many copies of the recording exist. I sure hope Richard has made backups! Now, whether or not we fans ever get to hear them is another story.

It's interesting to me also that this information has clearly been available to Japanese fans for years via the Mook, but it hasn't made its way to us until now. I guess information doesn't flow as freely across cultural and linguistic lines as I thought.

This is the cover of another japanese record collector magazine from 1996.
It has a discography and biography of the duo, but, all is in japanese, of course.
There are photos of all the 45 Single picture sleeves and the japan lp releases.
Like the Mook, it could hold interesting information, if translated.

I was intrigued by the reference in the opening post in Japanese to two songs, "We'll Be Together" and "Don't Tell Me", on the Russell label, so I asked a friend of mine who speaks Japanese to translate the text. This is what she sent to me:

Here is the translation.

Richard started composing around that time. While writing Christmas songs for the Choir, he also wrote popular songs, and had Karen singing those songs though her singing voice was not yet fully developed. When I was shown a record room in Richard's home, I noticed one unfamiliar recording disc placed near the single of Magic Lamp. The label said "We'll Be Together" and "Don't Tell Me". He said "That is what Karen recorded when she was 14. At that time, if you pay some — I do not remember how much — we could have a recording disc made."

So, this is clearly a recording Karen made BEFORE her Magic Lamp single of tunes Richard had composed. Very intriguing.

Click to expand...

VERY cool! I wonder if the record has Karen singing in a "high voice" or a "low voice?" (The latter supposedly didn't happen until "You'll Love Me," when her low voice "popped out.")

Can anyone with the Mook scan the pages, then see if we can "crowdsource" a Japanese translation of it? I have a few friends that know Japanese too.

VERY cool! I wonder if the record has Karen singing in a "high voice" or a "low voice?" (The latter supposedly didn't happen until "You'll Love Me," when her low voice "popped out.")

Can anyone with the Mook scan the pages, then see if we can "crowdsource" a Japanese translation of it? I have a few friends that know Japanese too.

Click to expand...

My guess it would be her high voice. I can't get over how this info was tucked away inside The MOOK and many fans here just found out about it on this thread. So Richard actually paid to have a 45 pressed of these 2 tracks and in the picture is this 45. These must be completed full songs and here we have yet more "unburied treasure" that is waiting to be heard. I can't understand why Richard never talked about this....I had no idea Karen recorded her voice at 14 years of age 2 completed songs on a 45. I'd imagine this was done only for Richard and Karen's collection but holy cow it's interesting stuff!!!!

I also wonder were these songs covered by other artists or strictly written for Karen to sing? Has anyone ever heard of these titles?

Well sounds like the army of CarpenterS have some work to do. I had no clue about the Russell label stuff. As Karen Carpenter no less.
Imagine being a 14 y/o superstar in the making. The backlash against the oft reminded 'a drummer who sings' began earlier than we originally thought no doubt. BUT BUT MOM, I'm not deliberately out-singing the piano....Poor thing jeeeez. This just reminded me of the KC STORY tv movie scene detailing the KC RCA contract fiasco wherein Aggie invalidates Karen with a hatchet.

I'm just talking off the top of my head but doesn't this change everyone's perception of Karen's early work. I mean for Karen to have recorded 2 songs and Richard to have gone to the expense of pressing it to a 45 Richard must have known at age 14 Karen had a voice. I never knew it was so early this happened.